


Echoes of Love

by SummerStormFlower



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Angst, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Children, Crying, Echo Zane is a little kid, F/M, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, I hope you like it, Other, Siblings, Sleepy Cuddles, Zane is a mother hen, aged-down characters, cute stuff happens, it’s cute, little kids, siblings sleeping together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:22:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26153374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerStormFlower/pseuds/SummerStormFlower
Summary: Zane, Jay and Nya bring Zane’s kid brother Echo home. Jay and Nya talk about the erased timeline, while all the ninja learn how Echo fits into their family.*related to “I’ve Always Wanted To Meet You”.
Relationships: Cole & Lloyd Garmadon & Kai & Jay Walker & Zane, Cole & Lloyd Garmadon & Kai & Nya & Jay Walker & Zane, Echo Zane & Zane (Ninjago), Nya/Jay Walker
Comments: 17
Kudos: 71





	Echoes of Love

**Author's Note:**

> For context, I’d recommend reading “I’ve Always Wanted To Meet You” before this. 
> 
> “Echoes of Love“ is related to two of my other fanfics.   
> “Someone Is Missing” (written first)  
> and “I’ve Always Wanted To Meet You” (written second)

When Zane, Jay and Nya get back from the lighthouse, they come home to questioning gazes. 

Lloyd holds up the note they’d left for them on the kitchen table. “Why did you go to the lighthouse?” he asks with a frown.

Kai and Cole are both wearing the same frown; confused and curious. 

Zane smiles and looks down. There’s a small boy hiding behind him, head buried against his waist. Zane taps his shoulder. 

“This is your new home, Echo,” he says gently. 

Slowly, Echo lifts his head, revealing the same bright blue eyes as Zane. Lloyd, Kai and Cole are struck by how strong the resemblance between the two are. The little boy looks like a tiny Zane. 

Echo looks around, still holding onto Zane’s waist. He looks at the people he doesn’t know. 

“Who are they?” he asks.

Jay kneels down next to him. “They’re Zane’s family,” he says.

Echo blinks at Jay. “But I thought I was Zane’s family.”

“You are,” Zane puts his arm around him. “But so are they. That makes them your family too,” he explains.

Echo thinks about that for a moment. “Oh,” he murmurs. He looks at Lloyd, then Kai, then Cole. Then he looks at Jay and Nya. “Are you family too?” he asks. 

“We are,” Nya responds, and Jay nods.

“What’s going on?” Kai asks, looking overwhelmed.

There’s still a confused frown on Cole’s face, and Lloyd’s eyes are wide. 

“Everyone,” Zane begins, smiling down at Echo, “meet my younger brother.”

Lloyd blinks. 

Kai sits down on the sofa.

“Brother?” Cole asks in surprise. 

“Like...” Lloyd struggles.

“Blood-related?” Kai finishes for him. 

Echo looks up at Zane. “What is blood-related?”

“It means we have the same blood,” replies Zane. 

“Okay, seriously. What??” says Kai, putting his hands on his head, trying and failing to make sense of things. 

Zane looks at Jay and Nya. 

Jay sighs, and Nya takes his hand. 

“We have a lot to tell you guys,” she says.  
__________________________________

“So, you died?”

Nya swallows. Kai looks utterly crestfallen, a look Nya hates to see on her strong big brother. He looks like the world has just fell apart under his feet.

“Yes, technically,” Nya responds hesitantly. 

Kai pales and Nya feels like she just stabbed a knife through his heart. Then his face twists in anger, but his eyes are vulnerable. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?!” he snarls.

Nya sighs. “It was easier not to.”

Kai blinks. “What?”

“If I didn’t talk about it...” Nya rubs her arm. “Then I didn’t have to relive it.” Then she didn’t have to ever go back to that feeling of drowning, of saying goodbye, of dying. But most of all, she didn’t have to picture Jay’s tear-stained face. Or the feeling of leaving the love of her life behind. 

Kai is quiet at first, clearly still quite angry. But he finds that it’s impossible to stay angry while looking at his little sister’s sad face. He can see in her eyes that it haunts her. He can only imagine the nightmares she’s had. 

Finally, Kai sighs and pulls Nya into a hug. “I’m just glad you’re alive,” he says. The whole story is horrible and crazy. Genies, spiders, floating islands, death. It’s a miracle Nya somehow survived. It is a miracle. It’s a miracle that Kai is holding his little sister in his arms right now. 

Nya’s heart clenches. She wraps her arms around Kai’s back and squeezes. “Kai,” she says shakily, her breath uneven. Her heart aches and she can feel a sob in the back of her throat, threatening to burst out. 

“Yeah?” Kai asks, rubbing his hand on his sister’s back. The way he used to when Nya was a baby and she wouldn’t stop crying.

“If one day, I really do die too soon,” Nya begins, her eyes warm with tears, “will you take care of Jay for me?”

Kai swallows painfully and holds Nya tighter. “You got it, sis.”

Nya sighs, relieved, and her shoulders sag as though a heavy weight has been lifted off of them. 

Kai’s eyes gleam determinedly. “But that’s not gonna happen,” he says, “I won’t let it. And you’re too stubborn to go down without a fight.”

Nya smiles in Kai’s shoulder.  
__________________________________

Echo stands still and stares curiously at the bed for a long time. Then he looks up at Zane. 

“What is that?” he asks.

“That is your bed,” replies Zane, “it is where you will sleep every night.”

Echo looks at the bed again. “It looks comfy,” he says. And he likes the colourful blanket.

Zane puts his hand on Echo’s back. “I will tuck you in,” he says. He pulls back the cover and Echo climbs onto the bed. He lays down when Zane tells him to, then Zane covers him with the blanket.

“It is warm,” Echo says in fascination.

“Too warm?” Zane asks.

Echo shakes his head. 

“Good.” Zane smiles. He strokes a hand through Echo’s dark hair. 

It’s an unfamiliar gesture, but Echo recognizes the affection in it. Zane is gentle, and something about him makes Echo’s chest feel good. He thinks it’s his heart. His heart feels like it’s glowing.

“Goodnight,” Zane whispers. 

He makes his way out the door, flicking the light switch off, and leaves the door half-open behind him in case Echo needs to call him. Then he goes to his room. 

When he’s under the cover in his own bed, he hears his door creak open softly and a pair of small footsteps. Zane turns. 

Echo is standing in the middle of the room. 

“I want to sleep with you,” he says.

Zane smiles, chest warm. Lloyd did this a few times when he was small too. Zane pulls back the blanket. 

Echo climbs in beside him and curls up. Zane covers them with the blanket and lays down.

He falls asleep to the sound of Echo’s breathing.  
__________________________________

Jay can’t sleep, despite the tired ache behind his eyes. It’s one of those nights. Those nights when his head is heavy and his eyes want to fall shut, but sleep is so far away. His mind is stuffed full of images and screams, memories he doesn’t want to remember anymore. 

Sometimes, when the nightmares feel just a little too real, his eyepatch eye throbs. They won in the end, but... Jay hates to admit it, but that damn genie did a number on him.

“Torture,” a voice suddenly says.

Jay sits up on the sofa. It’s Cole. “What?” Jay asks.

Cole gazes at him with those eyes that look straight into your soul, and sits down next to him. “The timeline,” Cole replies.

Jay immediately tenses. 

“You went through torture. There’s no other word to describe it,” Cole says. 

Jay sighs and drags his hands down his face, dropping his forehead to his knees. He doesn’t even care about how he looks, hunched over and broken. That’s how he feels. Broken. 

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Jay gulps painfully. Even if he wanted to, he didn’t have the words to describe it. There is no way to explain how Jay felt. There’s not enough words to convey the brutality he faced, physical and emotional. He can’t talk about it, and Jay can talk about anything. But not this. Not this. 

Cole puts his hand on Jay’s shoulder. “I didn’t say you had to.”

Jay swallows. His head hurts. “I almost lost everything, Cole,” he whispers, feeling everything inside him burn.

Cole moves closer, putting his arm around Jay’s back. “I thought you didn’t want to talk about it.”

“I don’t,” Jay says, “but... just...” he inhales, “that damn pirate ship and that genie... they almost killed my spirit, I... I considered just ending myself before they could.”

Jay stills under Cole’s touch, waiting for his reaction. He’s never told anyone that. Not even Nya.

Cole puts his other hand on him, encasing him in a warm, reassuring embrace. “Your spirit can’t be killed,” he whispers, “It’s too strong. Stronger than you think it is. You’re hurt right now, but your spirit is still as invincible as ever.” Cole holds Jay tighter, trying to convey that he’s telling the truth. He meant every word he said. 

Cole always tells him the truth. So Jay has no choice but to believe him, no matter how he doesn’t want to. 

A sensation of peace floods Jay, spreading through him and completely relaxing him. He slumps tiredly against Cole, feeling safer than he has in months. The nightmares can’t reach him like this. Jay knows Cole won’t let them. 

Sleep finally overcomes Jay.  
__________________________________

Zane always rises with the sun. This morning, Jay does as well. It’s not too unusual. Jay gets up early every now and then to do some maintenance on their vehicles. They sit together at the table, sipping the coffee Zane just finished brewing. 

“How’s Echo?” Jay asks.

“Still asleep,” responds Zane. He’d left bed as quietly as possible, not wanting to wake the small boy still curled up under the blanket.

Jay looks down at his coffee.

Zane knows immediately that something’s wrong. “What is bothering you, Jay?” he asks in concern.

Jay hesitates, biting his lip. 

“Jay?” Zane says softly.

Jay looks up at him, eyes glossy. “Are you mad?”

Zane blinks in surprise. “What?”

“That Nya and I didn’t tell you about Echo,” Jay explains. His eyebrows are pinched in worry. “Are you mad at us?”

Zane is quiet for a moment. He sighs then. “I certainly was not pleased you did not tell me earlier,” he says. 

Jay winces.

Zane continues, “What do you want me to say, Jay? You kept my brother a secret from me and left him alone.”

Jay licks his lips. “We... we weren’t thinking.”

“You were not,” Zane agrees. He reaches over and touches Jay’s wrist. “Because you were traumatized by what had happened,” he says gently. 

Jay averts his eyes. 

“I am not pleased by what you did,” Zane says, trying to find Jay’s gaze, “but I am not mad at you.”

That gets Jay’s surprised attention. “You’re not?” He blinks.

Zane shakes his head. “You know I am not one for grudges.” He smiles. “I want bygones to be bygones. Echo is here with us now. There is nothing to be angry over.”

Jay relaxes, a small smile growing on his own face. He nods. “Okay.”

Then Zane looks down at his coffee, smile falling off his lips. “Although,” he sighs, “I must admit, I am still a little angry with my father for not telling me about Echo.”

Empathy seeps in Jay’s expression and this time, he reaches over to touch Zane’s wrist.

Zane slumps sadly. “What reason could he have had for not telling me?”

“Whatever reason he had, you deserved to know,” Jay tells him. 

Zane frowns.

“I know you loved your father,” Jay says, “but you’re allowed to be upset. He left one of his kids.”

Zane’s frown turns worried. “Do you really think he abandoned Echo?”

Jay squeezes his wrist. “I don’t know. But Echo was all alone when me and Nya found him.”

Zane’s expression crumples. “When Echo talks about Father, he seems... so oblivious. Does he even know that he was left?”

Jay thinks about the moment after he found out he was adopted. When the shock had dissipated, and he finally had the time to wonder why he’d been given away.

“I hope for his sake, he doesn’t know,” Jay says.

Zane sighs.

The sunrise continues. Their coffee cups sit beside them, cold now.  
__________________________________

Zane is making cookies to help out the bakery in the city when a little head pops over the counter. 

“What are you doing?” Echo asks, standing on his tiptoes. He watches Zane mixing the dough curiously. 

“I am baking,” Zane responds, taking one hand off the wooden spoon to ruffle Echo’s hair. Wherever he goes, Echo always shows up at his side at some point. Zane has grown somewhat protective of him, so it’s soothing to know where he is. And it’s honestly nice to have a child around again. Nostalgia from when Lloyd was small hits Zane at nearly every corner. 

Echo blinks up at him. “What is that?” he asks. Everyday, Echo has discovered something new. There’s always something he didn’t know before. There’s so many exciting new things to learn, especially from Zane. Echo likes learning. And he really likes Zane.

Zane smiles at him. “Baking is when you make yummy treats,” he explains.

Echo tries sticking a finger in the bowl to see it that’s true, but Zane shoos his hand away. 

“Nuh uh, it is not ready yet,” Zane says. 

Echo frowns. “How do you know?”

Zane laughs. “I will let you know when I am done.”

“Can I help you?” Echo asks.

Zane smiles and nods, putting the spoon in front of Echo. Echo grabs a chair from the table and stands up on it. Zane shows him how to mix. The dough is hard, so he helps him stir.

Echo ends up making a mess, but it doesn’t matter to Zane. He can clean it up later. His little brother’s smile is worth a hundred messes. 

When they’re done, Zane tells Echo not to tell Cole about the cookies. They’re for the bakery, and Zane would prefer if Cole didn’t eat them all again. He does let Echo have one cookie though, only because it’s his first time having one. At least, that’s what he tells himself. 

But when Echo’s face lights up, Zane lets him have one more.  
__________________________________

Echo is a lot like Zane, not just in appearance but personality. All the ninja can see it. Echo is quiet and observant, thoughtful and kind. Zane and Echo might be the only ones, who aren’t aware of how similar they are. 

But Echo is also just as much his own person. He doesn’t have Zane’s sarcastic tongue, and he has no problem admitting when he’s annoyed. He’s curious all the time. He can’t focus on one thing for too long. He’s helpful, albeit clumsy. And while Zane never laughs at jokes, Echo giggles relentlessly. Even if he doesn’t understand it. 

“What are you doing?”

Jay jumps and drops his game controller, scrambling to pick it up and pause the video game on the tv. 

Echo has a tendency of popping up out of nowhere. He’s startled everyone once or twice by now. Zane used to do that. Cole used to think he could teleport. But that was years ago.

“Playing a game,” Jay says.

Echo climbs onto the sofa beside Jay. “A game?”

“Yeah. You know what games are?” Jay asks. It’s sometimes hard to tell if Echo really understands something. There’s still so many things he doesn’t know yet.

Echo nods. “When I cleaned the lighthouse, I’d play games with my broom.”

“Oh,” Jay says, “Uh, well, this is a different kind of game.”

Echo tilts his head. “Different?”

Jay takes a moment to think about his explanation. “You know what,” he then says, “I’ll just show you.”

Echo looks very interested now. 

Jay pulls Echo on his lap and shows him how to hold the controller. Echo needs to hear, see and feel in order to learn, but he’s a rather fast learner. In almost no time at all, Echo is already beating Jay’s highest scores. 

If it were anyone else, Jay would be pouting. But since it’s Echo, he’ll let it slide. Just this once.  
__________________________________

Nya needs to have a drink of water before she can fall asleep. She’s always been like that; done it all her life. So every night, she has half a glass of water before bed.

No one else is normally at the kitchen sink, but this time someone is. It’s Echo on a chair, turning the tap on and off. Kai showed him how to use it yesterday, and it’s become like his favourite toy since. 

“What are you doing awake?” Nya asks, gently taking his hand off the tap and turning it off. She lifts him off the chair and sets him on the ground. 

“I cannot sleep,” Echo replies, yawning. 

Nya smiles fondly. “For someone who can’t sleep, you sound sleepy,” she says. 

Echo pouts. “Lloyd is having a dream and he is talking.”

Nya chuckles quietly. Lloyd doesn’t sleep-talk very often, but he does it often enough. Jay recorded him once and the next morning, the guys were all laughing at it, much to Lloyd’s embarrassment.

“You can sleep with me tonight,” Nya says. 

Echo eyes her warily. “Do you talk when you dream?” he asks.

Nya laughs. “No, don’t worry. I don’t.”

Echo nods. “Okay.”

Nya guides him to her room and tucks him in bed beside her. Echo curls up under the blankets, yawning. Then he frowns and sniffs. He looks up at Nya. 

“I can smell your shampoo,” he says.

“Yeah?” Nya asks with a smile, “Does it smell good?” She bought some new shampoo a few days ago, actually. It’s supposed to smell like fruit.

“It smells girly.”

Nya laughs again. “Well, I am a girl,” she says. She gets comfortable and lays on her side. She smiles at Echo, who’s still looking at her. “You need to close your eyes to sleep.”

“I cannot fall asleep,” Echo pouts, puffing his cheeks. 

“Still?”

“Still.”

“Well, how about I sing you a lullaby?” Nya suggests. 

Echo blinks curiously. “What is a lullaby?”

Nya smiles. “Just listen.”

When she was little, Kai used to sing her a lullaby to help her sleep. He said that their mother used to sing it when she was a baby. It’s been awhile, but the words and tune come naturally to her. 

Echo listens and is mesmerized by her voice. He listens for as long as he can, until his surroundings begin to darken and Nya’s singing slowly fades away. Nya hums until his breathing evens out. Then he’s asleep.

Nya fixes the blanket around him, then gets comfortable. She’s just about to fall asleep when she realizes she forget to get a drink of water. 

Oh well. Tonight, she doesn’t need one.   
__________________________________

Zane is Echo’s favourite person. He follows him around, imitates him, always wants to do what Zane is doing. It’s cute, really. And Zane adores it; it’s amazing how quickly he’s grew to love Echo. 

Echo’s just a loveable kid. He can be a brat sometimes, sure, but he’s a kid. 

Zane doesn’t mother hen the other ninja as much, since Echo’s started living with them. It’s a bonus. 

Echo is usually attached to Zane’s hip. Lately, however, as he’s been growing closer to the others too, he’s been following someone else around. 

Cole feels a pair of eyes on him. He sets his dumbbells down and turns. 

There’s Echo, in the middle of the training room. It looks like he’s holding something behind his back.

“Hey Echo,” Cole says with a smile. 

“You’re super strong, right?” Echo asks. 

Cole chuckles. “I guess.”

Then Echo holds out a jar. “Can you open this?”

This is the third jar Echo’s asked him to open today. There’s nothing he even wants, he just wants to see the extent of Cole’s strength. 

Cole laughs amusedly. “Okay. Come here,” he gestures for Echo to give him the jar. 

Echo does and watches him with big eyes. Cole twists and takes the cap off. 

“Here you go, bud,” Cole says and gives him his jar back. 

Echo stares up at him. “You’re strong,” he says. 

Cole grins and ruffles his hair. “I am. And I worked super hard to get strong,” he says. 

“You did?”

“Yup.”

Echo blinks curiously. “How come?”

Cole smiles at him. “So I could protect people,” he answers.

Echo looks down at his jar. “Protect...” He thinks about that word. “Protect those who cannot protect themselves?” he asks. 

Cole’s smile grows softer. He sits on the floor. “That’s right,” he says. 

Echo sits beside him, a thoughtful look still on his face. “I wanna protect people too,” he says, “But I can’t right now because I’m too little.”

Cole slings an arm around him. “I think you underestimate yourself.”

Echo frowns at him. “Underestimate?”

“It means you don’t know what you’re really capable of.”

“Oh.” Echo frowns again. “I’m underestimating me?”

Cole gives his shoulder a squeeze. “You think you’re weak because you’re little,” he starts, “but the truth is, even little ones are strong too. Maybe even stronger than someone like me.”

Echo’s face lights up. “I’m strong?”

Cole grins. “Stronger than you think,” he pokes Echo’s head, “Right here,” he puts his hand over Echo’s heart, “And here.”

Echo touches his head and chest. “I’m strong here and here?” he asks. 

Cole ruffles his hair. “Much, much stronger than you think.”  
__________________________________

Echo’s first campfire doesn’t go quite as planned. Echo, being so new to life and so curious, reaches out to touch the fire. He yelps when he burns himself, a flame catching his hand. It’s scary and hot and it hurts, and Echo doesn’t know how to make it go away.

As soon as he yelps, Kai grabs his wrist and closes his fist over the flame on Echo’s finger. The flame goes out instantly and Kai doesn’t even flinch. 

Echo bursts into tears.

Gently, Kai guides him inside and takes him to the bathroom. He turns the tap on cold water. Then he has Echo put his burned finger in the water and hold it there. 

“Hey, you’re okay now,” Kai says softly, brushing Echo’s tears off his cheeks, “You’re okay. You don’t have to cry anymore.”

Echo sniffles. “That hurt,” he says.

“I know,” says Kai, “and that’s why you don’t touch fire.” He looks Echo in the eye. “Got it?” he asks.

Echo rubs at his face. “But you touch fire,” he says.

“Yes, I do,” replies Kai, “but that’s because I control fire. It doesn’t hurt me.”

“Oh.”

Kai pats Echo on the back. “Just remember this for next time,” he tells him. 

Echo makes a face and nods. “I will never do that again. It hurt,” he says.

“Good,” says Kai, running a hand through his hair, “because I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Then Echo looks up at Kai. “Do we have to go back outside?”

“Are you scared of the fire now?” Kai asks. 

Echo nods, eyebrows knitted together. 

Kai kneels down and puts both hands on Echo’s sides. “You don’t have to be afraid of the fire,” he says. 

Echo pouts. “But it hurt me.”

“But you’re not gonna let it hurt you again, right?” Kai asks. 

“No,” Echo responds.

Kai smiles. “Then you don’t have to be scared,” he says. Then he smirks, “Besides, you have me, remember? You don’t ever have to be scared when it comes to fire because you’ve got me.”

Echo thinks about that for a moment. Then slowly, he smiles and nods. “Okay,” he says. 

Kai bops his nose and makes his smile grow into a grin. “Okay.”  
__________________________________

“Lloyd.”

Lloyd wakes up to his mattress dipping, and something with tiny hands and feet crawling on top of him. 

“Lloyd.”

Lloyd groans and yawns, opening his eyes. Echo is sitting on his stomach. “What?” he asks groggily, not happy about having his sleep disturbed. 

“I need you to check under my bed,” Echo says.

Lloyd rubs his eyes and frowns up at the boy. “Under your bed? Why?”

Echo sticks out his lip. “Because there might be a monster hiding there.”

Lloyd sighs. “Echo, there’s no such thing as monsters,” he says, laying his arm over his eyes. 

Echo crosses his arms. “The lighthouse was guarded by a sea monster.”

Lloyd pauses. “Okay, good point,” he says. “But monsters under the bed don’t exist.”

Echo pouts. “How do you know?”

Lloyd sighs again. “I’ve never seen one.”

Echo scowls. “Just because you have not seen one does not mean they are not real.”

Lloyd groans.

“Will you please just check?”

Lloyd slumps in defeat. “Fine. But you have to get off me.”

Echo climbs out of Lloyd’s bed and Lloyd gets up. They go to Echo’s room and Lloyd turns the light on, then gets down on his hands and knees. He checks under Echo’s bed. 

After a moment, he stands back up and turns to face Echo, fiddling nervously with his nightshirt. 

“There’s no monster,” Lloyd tells him tiredly.

Echo sags and looks relieved. “Okay,” he murmurs. 

Lloyd yawns. “Can I go back to sleep now?” he asks. 

Echo nods at him. 

“Good.” Lloyd smiles and pats Echo’s shoulder on the way out of his bedroom.

Then he goes back to his own bed and lays down. He gets comfy on his side, too tired to even pull his blankets up. He shuts his eyes, everything around him slowly quieting, and is about to fall asleep...

He’s woken up by something with tiny hands and feet crawling on top of him again. 

Lloyd groans and looks up at Echo. “What is it now?” he yawns. 

Echo crawls over him and curls up beside him. “I am still scared,” he whispers. 

Lloyd’s face softens. 

Echo hugs Lloyd’s arm. “Can I sleep with you?” he asks. 

Lloyd grabs the blanket and pulls it over him and Echo. “Okay,” he says, “but you have to go to sleep.”

Echo smiles and nods. 

“Alright,” Lloyd drags a gentle hand through Echo’s hair. Then he gets comfy again and closes his eyes. 

“I love you, Lloyd.”

Lloyd opens his eyes in surprise. Echo is just staring at him. He’s probably already said the ‘love’ word to Zane. But it’s the first time he’s ever said it to Lloyd. Echo stares expectantly at him—he knows that you’re supposed to say it back.

Lloyd smiles. “Love you too,” he murmurs. 

Echo smiles happily, then closes his eyes. 

Lloyd falls asleep with a warm feeling in his chest.


End file.
